Proverbs 6:6-11 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: 7. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8. Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. 9. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

Verse Six - Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise

[A] Before we get into the Ant, how would you define a sluggard: [1] A lazy person who avoids work of physical exertion

[B] Go to the ant [1] What do you know about the ant? [a] They live in community [1-a] A community of ants may have millions of ants in it [2-a] They have particular jobs and tasks but all work together for one common cause - survival [b] Ants are willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of all [1-a] There have been stories told of how ants moving from one spot to another, and encounter an obstacle such as water, will continue on with the lead ants drowning and forming a bridge so the following ants can cross safely. [c] The ant is very strong - able to carry many times it’s own weight [d] Ants have and keep tiny creatures underground, which produce food for them - these creatures are similar to our Milk Cows [e] Ants travel as far a seven hundred feet to gather food for their colony [f] They work unceasingly to assure that they have plenty of food stored up for the winter, and bad times [2] We are to go to the ant and observe it’s ways [a] What can we learn from the ant? [1-a] We can learn to live together in unity [2-a] We can learn to work together for the good of all [3-a] We can learn the biblical principle, If you don’t work, you don’t eat [b] How can observing the ant make us wise? [1-a] We learn to be productive [2-a] We learn that we are to be productive [3-a] We learn that we are to live together in unity

[C] What then does this tell us about the way we are to live?

Verse seven and eight - Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

[A] There is no-one to tell them what to do, yet they do what they need to do [1] God placed an inborn instinct in them to know what to do [2] They adhere to that instinct and do what they need to do in order to survive

[A] How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? [1] To the lazy sluggard, God is saying, best you wake up, winter is coming, hard times is coming, you best be getting ready for hard times [a] 1Timothy 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. [2] It goes even deeper when we consider the spiritual meaning of these verses. [a] Jesus is coming soon, [b] It is time to work and prepare for his coming [c] This is not the time to be lying around, and pretending He is never going to get here [d] This is the time to be working diligently, like the ant, and gathering in as many people for Jesus as we possibly can

[B] When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? [1] This verse especially speaks of the spiritual [a] When are you going to wake up [b] When are you going to take Christ seriously? [c] When are you going to prepare your heart and start living your life for Christ? [2] There are many who are “sleeping“ [a] They apparently think they have plenty of time to prepare, sometime in the future [b] They want to keep one foot in heaven, and the other in hell [c] They want the things of the world, yet expect be allowed into heaven [d] They refuse commit fully to Jesus [e] They believe they can do all manor of things the bible teaches we are not to do, and still be allowed into heaven [1-a] Adultery [2-a] Homosexuality [3-a] Cheating [4-a] Stealing [5-a] Profanity [6-a] Pride [7-a] Hatred [8-a] Unforgiveness [9-a] Numerous other sins

[C] Solomon is saying, [1] It is time to wake up [2] It is time to stand watch [3] It is time to make yourself ready [4] It is time to stop fooling around and get serious

Verses ten - Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

[A] I remember when I was young how I often wanted to sleep just a little bit longer- as a matter of fact, I still do. I set my alarm clock, and when it goes off, I hit the snooze sometimes several times before I actually get up. That’s a habit I developed when I was young, and have never been able to break it.

[B] Solomon uses this same thing, of saying just few minutes more, just a little longer to describe how people put off doing what they need to do, always waiting, always putting things off, always delaying doing things they know in their heart they need do. [1] One of the worst things people delay and put off is accepting Jesus as their saviour [a] Why is it so hard for some to make that step and repent of their sins, and ask Jesus into their heart? [b] Why is it so hard for some to change from their present lifestyle and start living a Christian life? [c] Why do they want top put off what they need to do until tomorrow? [d] Don’t they know that tomorrow might never come?

Verse eleven - So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

[A] So shall thy poverty come as one that traveled [1] By putting things off, someday, it will sneak up on you and you will be found wanting [2] To deny Christ day after day is like a man who invest in the stock market and the stock he invested in, goes broke, He is rich today, and broke tomorrow - To deny Christ when he has continually knocked at your heart, is to tempt him. No-one knows the day nor the hour he will come for us either in death or the rapture, either way, the time for repentance will be over, and our eternal destiny will have been determined. [3] like the old saying goes, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

[B] Thy want as an armed man [1] Solomon tells us that too wait and put off what we need to do is like being affronted by an armed man, when he comes to rob us, there is noting we can do [2] When the sinner puts off accepting Jesus, and death comes for him, he will die in his sins, and there is nothing anyone can do for him. He gave his life to Satan and refused Christ, therefore, to Satan he will go, and all his crying and pleading with God, will be to no avail. The time for repentance is now, not tomorrow, not later, and certainly not after one has died. [a] At that point, Christ may say, go on and sleep, you wanted to before, now, continue, I will no longer bother you

Proverbs 6:12-15 12. A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. 13. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; 14. Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. 15. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

[A] The characters of one who is mischievous to man and dangerous to be dealt with. [1] If the slothful are to be condemned that do nothing, [2] Much more those that do ill, and contrive to do all the ill they can.

[B] Solomon is here teaching of a wicked man, one who [1] Looks for evil with his eyes, [2] Runs to evil with his feet [3] Performs evil with his hands [4] Thinks evil with his mind.

[C] He is speaking of a person who [1] Causes trouble with others [2] Is not happy unless there is something going on [3] Tries constantly to harm or hurt others

[D] He like the sluggard, will have his end come suddenly [1] Either through death or the coming of the Lord his end will come [2] His end will be an end of doom, and he will receive his just reward, punishment in hell

Proverbs 6:16-19 16. These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17. A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19. A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

[A] What is an abomination? [1] An Abomination is something horrible: an object of intense disapproval or dislike [2] It is something shameful: something that is immoral, disgusting, or shameful [3] It is an intense dislike: a feeling of intense dislike or disapproval toward somebody or something

[B] These seven things are things God hates, that are an abomination to him

[A] A proud look [1] There are seven things that God hates, and pride is the first, [1-a] Pride is the root of many sins, an is the factor that causes one to sin [2] God sees the pride of the heart and hates it [3] When it prevails in a man’s heart to the point that it causes him to place too much value upon himself and too little on others, the price has become an abomination to God [4] Pride causes one to depend on oneself and takes God out of the picture

[B] A lying tongue [1] Next to a proud look nothing is more an abomination to God than a lying tongue [2] Nothing is more sacred than truth [3] Nothing is more necessary to conversation than the speaking of truth [4] God and all good men hate and abhor lying

[C] Hands that shed innocent blood [1] The devil was, from the beginning, a liar and a murderer (John 8:44) [2] As a lying tongue, so are hands that shed innocent blood hateful to God, because they have in them the devil's image and do him service

Verse eighteen - An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

[A] A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations [1] A heart that designs and a head that devises wicked imaginations is a heart acquainted with the depths of Satan [2] This evil heart knows knows how to carry out a covetous, envious, revengeful plot, most effectually. [3] The more there is of craft and management in sin the more it is an abomination to God.

[B] Feet that be swift in running to mischief [1] Running swiftly, as if they were afraid of losing time or were impatient of delay a thing they are greedy of. [2] They are driven by Satan to hurry, so they have no time to consider what they are doing and change their mind

Verse nineteen - A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

[A] A false witness that speaketh lies [1] False-witness bearing is one of the greatest mischiefs a wicked imagination can devise [2] There cannot be a greater affront to God (to whom in an oath appeal is made) nor a greater injury to our neighbour (all whose interests in this world, even the dearest, lie open to an attack of this kind) than knowingly to give in a false testimony.

[B] He that soweth discord among brethren. [1] The God of love and peace hates him that sows discord among brethren, [a] God delights in unity and peace among his people [2] Those who are tale-bearers, slanderers, who carrying ill-natured stories, who aggravate every thing said and done, who suggest jealousies and evil, blow the coals of contention among the brethren, but at the same time they are preparing for themselves a fire of the same nature, which will consume them in hell